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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BONDING Bonded pair (m/f) fighting horribly – please help!

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    • Caenis
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        This is a long story but I’ll try to keep it short. Last November, we got Michael and Gabriel (both male, neutered, pre-bonded) from the rescue. They seemed happy, although we noticed that Gabriel groomed Michael often but not the reverse. One day, after two months, I came home to bunny fur everywhere – it seemed Gabriel had decided to go for dominance, and from that day on, he tried to attack Michael at every opportunity. We tried everything to stop them fighting, but on the advice of the rescue and the vet, we very sadly gave Gabriel back to the rescue. (I’m happy to report that he found a new home with a nice girl bunny!).

        We then got Lila (female, spayed, and about the same age as Michael – a year). Bonding them took several weeks but didn’t involve any fighting. They have been reasonably happily bonded for 9 months now, although again Michael often refuses to groom Lila (but will do it occasionally) and has started humping her, which she normally barely tolerates. A month ago, I once again came home to bunny fur, and it had been a serious fight because Lila had quite a few bites We took both of them to the vet (together), and gradually things improved again over a few weeks. Two nights ago, Michael tried to hump Lila, and she nipped him for doing so. He fought back, and then they were circling and biting. We managed to separate them. We have one pen, and we’ve been taking turns having them in it, as whenever they are out together now they fight – both seem to be going for each other, although Michael more than Lila

        I would love your suggestions as to how to proceed from here. We don’t want to lose either bunny, but I think they are miserable as (effectively) solo bunnies but miserable when they are together. Nothing changed in their environment as far as we can tell. Michael was trying to mount Lila more and more, though, so maybe Lila finally had enough. Do you think they can be rebonded? I am scared of letting them spend time together because Lila has already been injured once Any advice would be most welcome – many thanks!


      • Caenis
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          Update – we put them in the carrier tonight to see if a car ride would help, but a fight broke out in the carrier immediately (even though it was in mid-air!)


        • Bam
          Moderator
          16838 posts Send Private Message

            I’m sorry nobody has answered. It may be that noboy has any idea about what you should do. Stress-bonding is as you know recommended, but that doesn’t always work out. My bunnies fought like crazy in their box in the car and what they learnt was to hate each other even more but that car-rides aren’t so bad. I ended up deciding my buns would have to be apart, but they live so they can see and hear and smell each other, because I’ve a gate that separates their areas (a gate with two layers of netting with a distance in between, so they can’t reach to hurt each other.)

            I’m sorry for not being of any use to you. There are experts that say that all bunnies can be bonded, that it’s a matter of time and persistence. What stopped me was one bunny injuring the other’s eye (it healed perfectly but it took 3 weeks). Another thing to be wary of is backwards humping, if a boy bun does that to a another bun, he might get his penis bit off.

            I think you should take a time out for a while now, since their relationship seems really bad at this point in time and both buns are probably very tense and ready to fight, their stress-levels are likely high from these recent conflicts. I’ve read about time-outs during difficult bondings and it seems like it might help. I know that one member here tried to bond her buns for a couple of YEARS with time-outs in between, and eventually she succeeded.


          • vanessa
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              Wow I’m sorry that this is so difficult. I second Bam. They need a break to calm down and recover their hurt feelings. You need a break to recover your peace. Perhaps 2-4 weeks break then try stress bonding? Allow them to still be able to see eachother on their break. Live next to eachother on opposite sides of the fence. My bonding process was only 3 months, but I had to take a week break, and then a 4 week break. There are some folks here who have bunnies that live side bi side opposite a fence happily, but can’t live together. Hopefully your buns can work this out. A break would be in good order. Keep us updated.

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          Forum BONDING Bonded pair (m/f) fighting horribly – please help!